03 Jun 2018

His term in prison was not the best of his life; staying away from his family and loved ones and being deprived of freedom. But nonetheless, it was not the worst either.

Mr Moesi Tshilo, 33 year-old resident of Letlhakeng now operates his upholstery in the back garage after learning the craft while doing time in prison.

“It took me only four months to learn upholstery as I already knew some basics,” he said, and further explained that his current services included manufacturing and maintenance of sofas, car seats and bar stools.

“I also manufacture toiletry bags and school bags, tents and gazebos prized according to design and my customers are mostly from Letlhakeng and surroundings. They normally give me work to do but the only challenge is that they take longer to pay,” he said.

Mr Tshilo buys his materials as far as Gaborone which he noted was expensive.However, he said if payments were done on time cash flow would not be affected.

“I wake up every morning to a new customer as I advertise my business in the social media. Most parents come for school bags as they are of high quality and long lifespan,” he said with pride and stressed that he has never received any complaints of a poor work done from his clients, but only praises.

Mr Tshilo stressed that he makes roughly P10 000 profit on a good month and that his strength was being open to negotiating prices with his clients.

He has one employee who he has managed to teach all the basics so that he could assist whenever he is away on other business interests.

He said at the moment his main aim was to buy a van so that he could make deliveries to his clients as well as procure a bigger heavy duty sewing machine to handle all types of materials he uses.

He also noted that he needed a proper workshop with more workspace which would enable him to expand his business and add more services like carpentry. ENDS